Combined effects of the thermal-acoustic environment on subjective evaluations in urban squares

Abstract

Because human beings live in an environment in which various factors interact, it is necessary to study the effects of these factors on environmental evaluations. This study employs a questionnaire survey to explore the effects of the thermal-acoustic environment in urban squares on subjective evaluations (thermal evaluations, acoustic evaluations, and overall comfort) in severe cold regions. It also evaluates and predicts equivalent overall comfort under different conditions of the thermal-acoustic environment. The results indicate that with respect to thermal evaluations, a higher temperature causes a significant increase in thermal sensation in all the three seasons (summer, the transitional season, and winter) while traffic noise causes a slight increase in thermal sensation only in summer. Meanwhile, both temperature and traffic noise affect thermal comfort in all three seasons, with higher traffic noise causing lower thermal comfort. With respect to acoustic evaluations, higher traffic noise results in a more negative evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort, while the low temperature in winter and high temperature in summer increase acoustic discomfort. However, the interaction of temperature and traffic noise has an effect on acoustic comfort only in summer. In addition, temperature significantly affects overall comfort in all three seasons, while traffic noise has an effect only in the transitional season and summer; however, their interaction affects overall comfort only in winter.

Effects of visual landscape on subjective environmental evaluations in the open spaces of a severe cold city

“…Based on relevant studies, especially for environmental evaluations in severe cold regions, a 7-point Likert scale was used for TCV and OCV. Considering the extreme heat and cold conditions around the year, "very hot" and "very cold" were added, so a 9-point Likert scale was used for TSV, which could assess the subjects' thermal sensation levels more accurately (Jin et al, 2019(Jin et al, , 2020. As there were no extreme visible changes in the landscapes and the over-detailed evaluation scale in the visual landscape evaluation would confuse the subjects and affect their subjective evaluation, a 5-point Likert scale was used for visual landscape evaluation.…”

Research on the Spatio-Temporal Differentiation Characteristics and Factors of Typical Square Cities in China from the Perspective of Human Settlements

“…However, due to their high popularity, squares such as People's Square and Zhongshan Square have a wider influence in the central city. (2) In 1999, the number of squares located in the northeast of the city was relatively small. Therefore, they were relatively scattered and their service scope was relatively wide.…”

“…Reflecting the city's culture and spiritual civilization, city squares are public, artistic and vigorous in the open space system of modern cities. With the development of society, the living standards of residents are continuously improving, and peoples' requirements for urban living environments are also increasing, such as work, rest, public services, culture and entertainment [2][3][4]. Therefore, through the planning and construction of city squares, it is of great value to create a modern intelligent living space with ecological health, a beautiful environment that is comfortable and quiet, and cultural life for urban planning and construction and the residents' daily living environment [5].…”

Náttúra by Kitchen Theory: An immersive multisensory dining concept

“…One can perhaps thing of this as a very particular kind of congruency (see also Jin, Jin, & Kang, 2020, on other aspects of multisensory congruency).…”